Vampire Smurfs Chapter 1
by Lac Lausanne
Summary: The smurfs have a new and deadly enemy created by the evil wizard Gargamel. Will they manage to fight off this new enemy or will they all become 'infected'.  Illustrations by DA artist 'TairusuKu' who gave the inspiration for this story.
1. Chapter 1

Vampire Smurfs

Chapter 1

Story by; 'Uncle Gargy'

Illustrations;'TairusuKu'

It was the same as every other night so far this week, Gargamel just could not get to sleep. He had been tossing and turning all through the night and Azrael had got fed up as well and had even scratched his left arm, so now he had to get up to get some salve for it.

"Azrael you nasty cat, why did you scratch me? It's not my fault I can't get any sleep, those pesky Smurfs dog my every waking moment and it's killing me." Gargamel by now had got up and walked over to the big wooden table in the kitchen area and he got a pot of salve from the shelf above the fireplace. Azrael was still on the bed and just gave Gargamel his most evil stare, this annoyed Gargamel and he chucked a book that was lying on the table at the fleeing cat. It missed of course and the feline let out a mischievous chuckle.

The scratches were deep, he first washed the wound and applied the salve, then put a bandage on it. Almost immediately the bandage started to turn red. "Azrael, you've really hurt me this time, how can I get to sleep now? This better not give me cat scratch fever, don't want to get sick that's the last thing I need with those Smurfs sneaking into my home all hours of the day and night. I'm going down to the cellar, got to keep myself occupied"

Azrael watched Gargamel descend the stairs into the cellar. It was a bit of a junk heap down there, piles of books all over the floor, rolled up parchments in boxes, half finished diaries and notebooks. "Better get on with sorting out the books first I suppose," said the middle aged wizard to himself and he bent down and started to put the books into piles in no particular order, but just so that he had some room to move. But then as anyone does when they are trying to clear junk, he started to look at everything properly and noticed a very old book that had been under the pile for maybe years. It had been an old library book from the Wizard school, which he had never returned.

He blew dust off the cover and read the title' The Alchemist and the legend of the Homunculi'. He opened the book and saw that it was borrowed on the day that he left the Wizard school and that he must have chucked it down in the cellar in disgust when he found out that he had not passed his wizard exams.

"I forgot that I'd taken this book out, looks interesting." He got himself a chair and settled down to read. In no time at all morning had broken and he was still reading, more exited by what he was learning by the minute. "Wow! this is the perfect book for getting rid of the Smurfs for good! But," Gargamel could not stop himself from yawning and having a stretch. "But, I'm totally exhausted now better get to bed and then this evening, those Smurfs had better watch out, mwa,ha,ha,ha...yawn!"

With the book safely in his hands, Gargamel climbed back up the cellar stairs into the kitchen area and put the book under his mattress and climbed into bed. The sun was streaming through the window but Gargamel did not care as he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Meanwhile in the Smurf village, Papa Smurf and Brainy were having an argument about what to do with the bridge over the river. It had been damaged a few days earlier by Azrael and Papa wanted to keep to the old design but Brainy wanted to try adding some more supports. "Papa, you know that to support the weight of other creatures using the bridge that more supports will be needed, we can't tell the rabbits, badgers or any other creature that they can't use it." said Brainy.

"Brainy, I don't mind other creatures using the bridge, it's just that we need to get the bridge mended now and we don't have enough lumber and smurf to change the design. It only got broken because Azrael ripped it apart, now this matter is closed. Understood?" said the village elder. "Ok, Papa but I'm telling you its going to smurf again and then you'll be sorry you did not listen to me and furthermore.." Before he could even finish his sentence, Brainy found himself outside the village with a very sore head and backside.

Smurfette had heard the argument as it occurred just outside her window and she came out to talk to Papa. "He does get annoying doesn't he," she remarked . "Don't think he means any harm, but he just thinks that he always has to be right, I know more than him, he is just young, no offence, but I have time and experience on my side and I know what I'm talking about, but still it feels good to teach him a lesson sometimes," said the village leader. Smurfette giggled at this remark. "Anyway, be seeing you Smurfette, I've got to go into the forest to Smurf some more ingredients for my potions. I should be back before nightfall, let the other Smurfs know, OK." "Yes Papa, I'm just going to water my flowers and then I'll tell everyone else," replied Smurfette and she waved at Papa Smurf who was now departing the village with a basket in his hand to collect some plants.

A few hours passed and Papa was enjoying himself, it was good to get out of the village and he had picked all the material that he needed, he started to head for home. All through that day he had not noticed any sign of Gargamel, he was usually out in the forest most days. Papa made a decision to visit the hovel and see what the wizard was up to, as it was wise to 'Know thy enemy' and they always had to keep tabs on his escapades. The elderly Smurf got to the hovel in less than half and hour and after looking for Azrael, he climbed up onto the outside water butt and onto the windowsill of the bedroom. He could see that Gargamel was still in bed, which he thought was odd as if he was sleeping in the daytime it was in the rocking chair. "Hmm, he must be ill or something?" Papa jumped down onto the bed and carefully crept up to the sleeping Gargamel to have a closer look, he noticed that the wizard's left arm was bandaged just above the wrist. "Well he doesn't seem to be sickening for anything, just seems to be injured doesn't look serious maybe he's just been up all night or something? Better get out of here before Azrael comes back," Papa looked around once more and with a hop jumped up to the windowsill and then down to the ground. Azrael was nowhere to be seen. It was his lucky day.

Later that evening as the moon was rising, Gargamel woke up and had a good stretch and said to himself "Ye gads, I needed that sleep, feel so much better and ready to make magic!" he giggled to himself. "But first I've got to feed the cat, Azrael! Where you? Mangy evil creature!" Azrael replied with "Mreeoww, meerrw!" and crawled out from under the bed, he had been sleeping there all day and had not noticed their little visitor earlier that afternoon. The wizard emptied some bits of chicken into a bowl and set it down on the floor, the hungry cat ate it noisily which irritated Gargamel and he had to chide the cat by saying "Azrael, you'll give yourself a bad stomach and stop making so much noise you sound like a pig and I don't want to share my house with a pig!" The cat just ignored the insults he was so used to them that they just went right over his head.

Gargamel, then got himself a bowl and scooped some cold vegetable stew that had been sitting on top of the cold fire. He then laid the fire and lit it ready for the work he was going to do tonight, but was so hungry that he ate the stew cold anyway. Once the fire had got going properly, he put some water on to boil in a kettle and made a cup of tea for himself.

"Ahh! Just what I needed and now to work!"He drank the rest of the tea and went over to his potion shelf, he took down several of the bottles and brought them over to the table in the kitchen. He then lifted up a large cauldron from the floor of the kitchen and set it on the embers of the fire and fed some more wood from the sides. "That should keep the fire nice and hot for the spell to work" he said to Azrael, but the cat had gone back to sleep on the bed this time. "Bah! You're so lazy Azrael, maybe I should have a dog instead of you? Much more loyal and they don't scratch, but then they bite hard don't they? Maybe not then," He looked at his arm again and decided that he need to change the bandage as the old one was a dirty dark red. He winced as he removed the soiled dressing and washed the wound again, the scratches three of them were still red looking but had stopped bleeding, Gargamel decided to put some more salve on the wound and put another clean dressing on. He then got up and went to his bed and took the book from under the mattress, he brought it over to the table and opened it up.

He brought his hands up above his head, linked his fingers together and pushed, a satisfying cracking sound came from them and he got to work.

Most of the Smurfs back at the village had gone to bed and Papa was just tucking the Smurflings into their beds after he had read them a story. "Papa, why do you always read us baby stories? We would like to listen to a more exiting story ," said Nat. "No way, little Smurflings, if I did that you would not sleep all night" replied the elderly smurf with a laugh. "Aww! But it would be fun wouldn't it?" the other Smurflings all nodded their heads. "Maybe when you are a bit older, you don't need to know about the scary things in this world yet and there are things worse than being chased by an evil wizard and his cat. Now sleep it's getting late,"said Papa. "Good night Papa" replied the Smurflings as the elderly smurf blew out the candle and closed the door.

The evil wizard had by now made the special potion in the cauldron and the mixture was bubbling gently, it was black as pitch and had the consistency of tar, so the bubbles were slowly forming and popping at the surface making quite a disgusting sound. In front of him Gargamel had a knife, four small pieces of quartz no bigger than a thumbnail, a large piece of quartz that was thin and about 5 inches long and it was tied at one end with a leather thong. "Right Azrael, this is the most important part of the spell and the worst, well for me anyway," the wizard picked up the knife, walked over to the cauldron and holding his left hand over it, he took the knife and grimaced whilst he slashed open his left palm. The blood flowed freely into the black bubbling mixture and according to the book he would have to keep his hand there until the blood stopped flowing. Thankfully, it only took a couple of minutes or so, but Gargamel was feeling very sore and again had to get some bandages for his wounded hand. "Aarghh! Azrael, the things I do in order to destroy those Smurfs, why can't they just leave this area and leave us alone?" gasped the wizard as he tried not to show how much it was hurting. Azrael, just shook his head in resignation as to what horrors his master was cooking up.

Gargamel had one more ingredient to add to the mixture and those were the four small pieces of quartz, he then chanted a spell:

"Oh hear me, wizards of old, I have spilt my blood in honour of your ancient magic, grant me my wish. Bring me four tiny mannequins to do my bidding, may they be swift as the wind, dark as the deepest cave and thirsty for Smurf blood."

He threw in the quartz pieces and the mixture started to bubble more violently and for a moment turned bright red and then back to the viscous black. He carried on with the spell:

"Blood of a wizard, clay of the earth, breath of the wind, spit of a bat, foul herbs of the forests and swamps come together and become one. Legs of the Mandrake root give them motion, quartz will be their hearts, I will be their master, come alive and do my bidding without question."

When the last line had been chanted, he picked up the rod of quartz and put it round his neck, securing it with the leather thong.

There was a blinding flash from the cauldron and it knocked Gargamel off his feet and sent Azrael scurrying under the bed. Once the smoke had cleared Gargamel picked himself off from the floor. He saw four small humanoid creatures crawling out of the pot. They were half the size of a Smurf but were very skinny, shiny black with red blotches and bat wings neatly folded up on their backs.

Before he knew it they had jumped from the cauldron onto the table and he felt the evil of their red eyes boring into his head. "Stop it, I'm your master, you must obey me and only me," said Gargamel, trying to keep his composure under the onslaught of their eyes. The book never mentioned anything about the power of their eyes.

This was a good time as any to send them out to hunt for the Smurfs and to be honest, he did not want them in his house a moment longer, so with his most confident voice he gave the order "Go and destroy the Smurfs!" the little Homunculi showed their vampire fangs and as one they flew out of the window into the dark night towards the Enchanted forest and the unsuspecting sleeping Smurfs.

As soon as they left, Gargamel sat down heavily in his rocking chair, "Think I might have overdone it this time Azrael, but as long as I keep this quartz rod next to my skin then they will obey me and it will be useless to anyone else.I don't want Papa Smurf using my Homunculi against me. Come Azrael, lets clear up this mess and see what becomes of the Smurfs in the morning, hope they have an awful night, mwa,ha,ha,ha!

Azrael decided that he was going to stay under the bed and did not even bother laughing along with his master he had a feeling this wasn't going to end well for anyone.


	2. Chapter 2

Vampire Smurfs (Chapter 2)

Rampaging infection

It was pitch dark in the undergrowth of the forest, only the moonlight filtering through the foliage gave any light. Gargamel's mannequins were flitting from tree to tree, searching for their quarry. In their little quartz hearts, pure evil was growing and they felt that their lives depended on biting their first Smurf.

They came to a clearing where a lone shack stood, it was the home of Timber Smurf. He lived apart from the other Smurfs due to his work, but he met up with them at least once or twice a month when they came to collect the lumber that he had cut and prepared. Timber Smurf was fast asleep in his bed and was having a lovely dream when something made him wake up. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes and looked around, he could see nothing, so he lit a candle and got out of bed and went to the door to have a look. As soon as he unlocked the door he was pushed down onto the floor by four small black creatures, one was on his head, the other three were holding on to both his legs and his right arm. In a total panic Timber Smurf ran out of his shack screaming for help, but none came, he was alone with the creatures and although he tried with all his might to shake them off, they were stuck fast as they had sunk their teeth into his blue flesh and he could feel himself getting weaker by the second, he then collapsed onto the forest floor and lay motionless.

The creatures sat in a circle around the Smurf and waited. A couple of hours later, Timber Smurf started to come round, he felt all fuzzy as if he was not really with it, he got to his feet and stumbled back into his shack and lay down on his bed.

"What the smurf happened? I can't remember a thing, and owww! Why are my ankles hurting so much?" He looked at his feet and could see two red marks on each ankle, he also had two marks on his right wrist. "What the smurf!" but before he could finish his sentence he noticed in the gloom of his shack four pairs of little red eyes looking at him. They glowed as if made of red hot metal and he felt his mind slipping away and before he could even make a conscious decision to stop himself, he got out of bed and walked out of the shack.

The evil mannequins had him in their power and he was going to lead them straight to the Smurf village where they would feast at last.

Gargamel was having a disturbed night again, the eyes of his creations kept popping up in his dreams and he felt helpless whilst they did terrible things to him. Then he woke up with a scream of terror. "Azrael save me!" he shouted and then he realised that it was just a dream and breathing heavily he lay back down on his pillow, sweat pouring off him. His left elbow and armpit were starting to feel tender and he could feel a swelling at both sites. "Oh no, don't say that I've got an infection, my glands are up, it's that blasted cat, so full of disease. I'd better dose myself up on a healing potion fast," said Gargamel to himself. He climbed out of bed and went to his medication shelf. He had trouble opening the bottle due to his bandaged left hand, so he sat down and used his knees to steady the bottle whilst he got the stopper out. He took at big swig of the liquid inside and swallowed it quickly "Gahhh! That is revolting!", but it's supposed to be good for infections, that's what the man who sold this to me at the door said anyway. He put the bottle on the table and replaced the stopper.

"I wonder how much trouble my homunculi mannequins have wrought on the Smurfs? Hehehe! Papa Smurf will have his work cut out trying to sort out this mess and with any luck they will get him first and out of the way for good." cackled the evil wizard to himself. There was still an hour to go until Dawn and Gargamel decided to go down to the river to do some fishing, it was going to be a long day as the Homunculi would only be active in the night. He was hungry and needed to get something to eat for him and his cat. "Come Azrael, let's go down to the river for the day and maybe this evening, the real action will begin."

As they had planned, the Smurf had brought them to the edge of the Smurf village just in time. Dawn was breaking and they would soon have to find shelter from the cleansing light. As Homunculi they detested the daytime and it was painful for them to let light touch their skin but it would not kill them.

The only thing that would harm them would be if their master's body temperature went over forty degrees celcius for more than two days, but they would merely hibernate until the master was well again. But if their master died then they would be free and able to rampage across the forest attacking Smurfs, Humans and Beasts, nothing would be able to stop them. Taking the controlling quartz rod that was around Gargamel's neck would produce the same result as it he had died, so it was best for others to never remove it. Only the creator could destroy them and he would have to first trap them. Now that they had life they were not going to give it up so easily.

Timber Smurf looked a mess, his clothes were all torn and ripped, his wool hat was frayed but his skin was very pale blue, almost white and his eyes were blood red. The creatures had left him once the sun started to come up and he did not see where they went, his eyes were hurting too much and he willed himself to carry on towards the village. At least his mind felt a bit clearer now but the rest of him was very tender and he just wanted to see the other Smurfs and get some help.

Through his blurred vision, he noticed the pallor of his skin and felt panic rising from deep within himself. Half running half stumbling he ran into the village and shouted at the top of his lungs "Papa Smurf Help me! I've been attacked!" and then he collapsed onto the ground and was out cold.

Other Smurfs heard his cry for help and came running out of their mushroom houses. They all gathered around the prone Smurf on the ground and made way for Papa Smurf and Doctor Smurf to come into the centre of the circle.

"Oh my!" exclaimed the village leader. "What on earth has happened to Timber Smurf?" he added. Doctor Smurf knelt down next to Timber and got his stethoscope out and put the earpieces in his ears and the other flat end onto the prone Smurf's chest. Everyone waited with baited breath as Doctor Smurf counted, they were all sure that Timber was dead as he looked so ill! "He's alive, but only just. His heartbeat is thready at best and I'm worried about his skin tone and pallor. Hefty and Brainy can you bring the stretcher, we must get him to the clinic at once," said Doctor Smurf. "Yes, just smurfing it for you now Doc," replied the two smurfs. "What do you think could have caused this Doc?" asked Papa "Well from my quick examination just now I can deduce that he has been bled almost dry," said the Doctor. This drew a gasp of horror from the gathered Smurfs and Smurfette started to wail "No, Papa, you have to protect us from whatever is out there, it could come and attack us as well, Oh, what are we going to do?" Papa Smurf put his hands up to control the crowd who by now were getting agitated. "Smurfs listen up! We don't know what happened to Timber Smurf and until he comes round and tells us what happened we don't know what we are dealing with so please, panicking will do no good. I suggest that tonight we post sentries around the village and every other smurf makes sure that they lock their doors tonight and don't open them until given the all clear. Understood?"

The crowd of smurfs nodded and they started to disperse when Brainy and Hefty returned with the stretcher a moment later. Together, Doctor Smurf and Hefty gently lifted up the anaemic Smurf onto it and they carried him to the clinic just a few mushrooms away.

Once inside the clinic, Doctor Smurf and Papa Smurf make Timber comfortable on a bed and the Doctor starts to set up a saline drip and tries to find a vein to put the needle in, but however much he slaps the skin of both hands and inside of the elbows, no veins will come up. "That's strange, just can't get anything at all. I need to get this line into him or he will die." said the healer to himself. In the meantime Papa Smurf was in the other room making up a potion to try and wake Timber.

Just then a loud moan emanated from the pale smurf on the bed and Doctor Smurf came closer to Timber as it looked like he wanted to say something, but the physician had to get very close to the ill smurf's mouth to hear. Timber started to talk in a halting whisper "Help me..I was attacked...don't know what it was...but it was horrible...they did this to me...the creatures...never seen anything like it...tell..tell..the others...not safe at night...they stay out of the light..I'm so hungry and thirsty...so..so..hungry...for ...blood!"

Before Doctor Smurf had time to react and get out of the way, Timber had sunk his teeth into the Doctor's neck, but they were no ordinary smurf teeth they were pointed and were stuck fast. He could feel the smurf licking his neck and he was now in full panic mode and tried to beat off his attacker, he managed to twist away and fell onto the floor holding his neck. When he looked at his blue palm, he was horrified to see it covered in his own blood, he looked up and Timber Smurf was slowly getting out of the bed, his eyes were strange, it seemed as if they were glowing red, his mouth was all bloody and he had fangs! Doctor Smurf tried to crawl away from the horror that was bearing down upon him. He inched his way along the floor as his legs had refused to work, he could not even shout for Papa who was in the next room as his throat was all chocked up with blood, he almost got to the door where Papa was and then he was hit on the head by a blunt object and everything went black.

Meanwhile, Papa was totally oblivious to what had been happening on the other side of the door, he was completely immersed in his spell book and had tried about two different potions and none of them seemed right for treating Timber's strange illness. He was just about to try and smurf a third potion when a heard a 'thud' from the adjacent room. "Is that you Doctor? How is our patient, has he woken up yet?" There was no answer. "Doctor, did you hear me?" Papa shouted a little louder this time. Still no reply or sounds of movement. "Do I have to come in and speak to you, can't see why you can't come in here. I can't smurf these potions if I have to keep going out of the room!" he said in exasperation. He took a few steps towards the door and opened it.

For a moment the scene that lay before him did not register in his mind's eye. It was so outlandish that he struggled to understand what he was seeing. Doctor Smurf was lying prone on the floor face down and Timber Smurf was standing over him but had his back to Papa. "What in all of Smurfdom has happened here? What have you done to Doctor Smurf? Is that blood? My Smurf, have you killed him?" Papa screamed in shock. All of his body and soul was urging him to run for his life but he could do no more than point at the scene before him.

The smurf known as Timber Smurf slowly turned round to face the village leader, the Doctor's attacker still had pale skin but it seemed a little bluer than before, as if he was getting stronger. But the eyes, Papa could not tear his gaze away from the glowing red eyes. They seemed to call the elderly smurf, they were boring into his mind. He heard Gargamel's voice inside his head, "You ask too many questions Papa!" "This is your doing, what evil have you meddled with this time?" replied Papa using the power of thought only. "It's of no concern to you, Papa. Soon the Smurfs will be no more and there is no point in resisting, just let the hunger take you over. Mwa,ha,ha!" replied the voice of Gargamel. Papa started to say something but noticed that the eyes of Timber had glowed even brighter and he could feel his mind slipping, even the sight of blood over the front of Timber did not seem that bad anymore, he was starting to feel exited by it, he wanted it for himself, wanted to feed and taste forbidden things. His mind submerged itself as deep as it could to hide itself away from the evil that was encroaching and fogging up his morals and sensibilities.

Papa Smurf was now a Vampire Smurf, almost the same as Timber Smurf and Doctor Smurf who was just starting to come round and getting up off the floor. But Gargamel had other plans for Papa. The village leader would not be fully vampire until he was bitten by an infected Smurf.

All three of them stood in a circle facing each other and held hands. Their eyes seemed to glow even redder as dusk fell outside. They waited for their makers as now they were the slaves of the Homunculi and were compelled to do their bidding.

The Homunculi in the forest were starting to come out of their hiding place in a hollow tree just next to the village. They could communicate with their slaves by thought alone, the same way their creator communicated with them with his unconscious mind.

The feasting would start tonight when the moon rose and the 'Vampire infection' would just continue to multiply like a bacterium in a host's body until the whole Smurf population was 'unsmurfy'

To be continued.

Chapter 3: Will the Smurfs survive the night? Who will see the Dawn? How will the survivors fight against the Vampires and does Gargamel not realise that his unconscious mind is now taking over now that he is falling ill?


	3. Chapter 3 'Night of the living Smurf'

Vampire Smurfs Chapter 3

'Night of the living Smurf'

Gargamel had been on the riverbank all day and had managed to catch a couple of fish earlier in the day at around noon. He had cooked them over a fire and shared them out with Azrael. He must have dozed off for the rest of the afternoon as it was now dusk and getting dark. He had been lying in an awkward position and his back was hurting making him wince. He got up onto his feet with great difficulty and then noticed a new pain. His injured left hand looked a bit red on the fingers and then he realised that his whole hand felt numb but his fingers and the skin just above his wrist were stinging as if they were on fire.

"Ow, come Azrael, lets get back home, I need to check the wounds on my hand and change the dressing. I don't think that healing potion was any good, looks like I got fleeced again. Just you wait, if that vagabond ever comes back to sell me anything else again, he will wish he had never darkened my door!" Growled Gargamel.

The angry wizard and his cat marched off in the direction of their hovel. Except that Gargamel was finding it hard to march as such, as he was starting to feel giddy and was trying not to fall over every tree root or branch he came across.

Back at the Smurf village the residents were having a meeting in the square. No-one could find Papa Smurf, Doctor Smurf or Timber Smurf. They had gone to the clinic but it was empty but there was blood on the floor and signs of a scuffle, so this prompted the remaining Smurfs to try and work out a plan of action for that night. They did not have time to search further as it would be dark soon.

Brainy had appointed himself as the spokesperson and stood on a small mushroom pedestal to address the gathered crowd. "Everysmurf, please remain calm! We must do as Papa said, make sure we stay in our homes tonight, lock all the windows and doors and do not come out for anyone until the morning. Whatever is out there is active at night and we must protect ourselves." Hefty Smurf then came up to the pedestal and said "Brainy is right for a change," Brainy put his hand up to ask what he meant by that but thought he better not. Hefty continued "And if these creatures come inside your homes you must fight them with whatever you have, even if they are someone you recognise. We know that they look ill, remember what Timber Smurf looked like, very unsmurfy!" With that all the Smurfs ran off into their mushroom houses and started to lock themselves inside for the night.

The Smurflings were scared, they stayed rooted to the spot as the crowd dispersed. They went up to Hefty and Brainy "Who's going to look after us? We can't fight monsters by ourselves," asked Sassette. "Don't worry yourselves, I will be with you, so will Smurfette, Clumsy, Greedy and Brainy," said Hefty. "I'd better bring some supplies, I've got lots of Smurfberry pies that need eating, might as well bring them along," said Greedy and he ran off to his home. Within a few minutes he was back with a large tray of small pies, there must have been at least thirty of them. "Wow, that will keep our minds off what's happening," said Nat. The other Smurflings agreed but to be honest they did not feel like they would be able to eat a thing.

They all went to the Smurflings house and Smurfette had baby Smurf in her arms. Once all safely inside, Hefty and Brainy got on with barricading the door and windows. Clumsy and Smurfette tucked the Smurflings and Baby Smurf into bed and read them some stories to keep them occupied. No-one was kidding themselves that they were going to get any sleep this night.

It was not far to the hovel but Gargamel was finding it difficult to put one foot in front of the other and he had such a blinding headache that he found it hard to concentrate. He kept getting brief flashes of the creatures that he had created and each time it happened he had to stop and steady himself. "This is ridiculous Azrael, I feel like I'm losing my mind and it's getting a bit disconcerting now!" huffed Gargamel as he reached the door of his hovel. He pushed it open and collapsed on the stone floor throwing up a cloud of dust. "Cough, cough! However much I clean this floor it's always filthy! I wish Scrupple was still living here with us, I need someone to look after me and I do miss him even if he was annoying and sometimes it's good to hear another persons voice, no disrespect to you of course my faithful cat. Azrael, if anything happens to me promise you'll get help," the cat looked at his master with a puzzled look but replied with a gentle nudge against his master's head. Gargamel heaved himself off the floor and went to the wash basin and brought it over to the big wooden table in the kitchen.

He sat down and started to unravel his bandaged hand. He was quite disgusted by what he saw. The scratches had gone septic no doubt. The skin was going purple and wet looking. Angry red skin marked the boundary of healthy and infected flesh. He gave the infected area a prod but could feel nothing at all and he was ever more repulsed when it bubbled as if gas was trapped underneath the skin. He gave it a quick wash with some carbolic soap, dried it carefully and applied another dressing. He tried to eat some bread but could not stomach it as his headache was getting worse and he was feeling cold. He got undressed and changed into his nightshirt and got into bed, pulling an extra blanket tightly around himself. "Goodnight Azrael, hope you get a better sleep than I will tonight. At least I'm not the only one who might get a restless night. The Smurfs should be at each other's throats by now..he..he..he!" He tried to shiver himself to sleep, but the infection was taking hold and his immune system was trying to kill off the infection by turning up the thermostat. Azrael was growing concerned for his master. He climbed up onto the bed and got inside the blankets and tried his best to warm him up, but would Gargamel survive the night?

For the first hour or so nothing untoward happened in the village. The Smurflings and Baby were fast asleep. The adult Smurfs had gathered in the main room and were huddled together around the table. "So Hefty, what's the plan? Do we thrown things at them if they come in? Attack them with weapons? " asked Clumsy. "We will know what to do when the time comes, we don't even know what this illness does to them. Does it make them stronger than a normal Smurf or are they weaker?" replied Hefty. "Don't suppose saying Go away we're not interested will work either?" said Brainy the Smurfs shrugged their shoulders and stared at the candle which flickered in the centre of the table.

Just then they all heard a scratching sound on the window shutters outside. They all turned their heads to look towards the sound, everysmurf holding their breath. Scratch...scratch...scratch. Smurfette felt like shouting out in terror, but she held her hands over her mouth to keep it from escaping her lips. Hefty was walking towards the window with a baton in his hand ready to attack, when there was a second scratching sound, this time coming from the door. Scratch...scratch...scratch. Hefty moved towards the door thinking that whatever out there had merely moved position but the scratching noises started up at the window again, whilst the ones at the door got louder.

"Oh, my Smurf there are two of them! Can't you make them go away?" she whispered to Hefty. "No way I'm going out there. We are safe in here, they are trying to trick us into coming out," replied Hefty. He had only just finished his sentence when a third scratching noise started up. This time on the roof!

"Oh, you got to be kidding us," exclaimed Brainy. "They are on the roof. Now why would they be on the roof, I mean there is a window and door here, but luckily we have boarded them up and there is no way they can smurf in here. As I always say, a good lock is always smurfy..." he stopped talking when he saw the shocked expressions of his friends. "What? Why are you all staring at the fireplace, the scratching sound is over here," said Brainy. "Yes, but it's moving towards the fireplace and guess what we forgot to do?" replied Greedy Smurf who still had half a pie in his hand.

All of a sudden there was a thump and a cloud of soot came out of the chimney, for a second or two the Smurfs could not see anything and then they saw the horror of what awaited them outside.

If anyone was left outside that was. Whilst the Smurflings house was being attacked the rest of the village had put up a good fight, but it had been a losing battle for some of the Smurfs.

Vanity Smurf was the first to be bitten that night and it was Doctor Smurf who infected him. Vanity then bit Painter Smurf and then Painter went on to bite Farmer and Lazy, who was actually sleeping in all the chaos! Vanity floored Handy Smurf and the rest of the Vampire Smurfs all piled on top. Handy ended up with the most bites but alas they were not love bites from Smurfette. Thankfully the rest of the village dwellers were still safe in their homes and after trying to get in, the vampire Smurfs decided to concentrate on the Smurflings' home as the youngest blood could be found there.

In all this chaos, the other vampires did not notice that Papa Smurf did not look like them. It could have been because he had never looked like them in the first place, so it did not register that he did not have the same pale complexion as them and that his teeth were not as sharp or even pointy at all. Papa was still under the influence of the Homunculi mind control and although he was trying to fight it, he had to go where they wanted him to be. And right now his mission was to break into the house where the future of the Smurfs was sheltering.

As the soot cleared, the adult Smurfs got their first proper look at a Homunculi, it was black with red blotches, very skinny with large wings and half the size of a Smurf. But as Hefty raised his arm to attack the creature with the baton, he found himself drawn to the creature's glowing red eyes , he could not look away. The baton clattered to the floor and Hefty turned to face the other Smurfs in the room and they saw that his eyes were glowing red also. The Homunculi jumped on Hefty's back and bit him full on the neck. The Smurf screamed out in pain and fell to his knees.

Greedy was the first to react and he threw the remains of the Smurfberry pie that he had been eating at the Homunculi. He was amazed when he saw that the pie actually caused pain to the creature. As the pie hit home, smoke rose from the evil creature's head and it looked to be in great pain. "Well, I didn't think my pies were that bad! But if you hate them, here have some more!" He was standing near the tray of pies and picked up a few and gave them to Smurfette, Clumsy and Brainy and they in turn threw pies at the creature who continued to scream in pain as the red pie filling covered it's skin and caused it to blister and smoke. The creature retreated to the fireplace opened it's wings and flew up the chimney into the night.

"Oh, my Smurf! Did you see that thing? What are we going to do about Hefty. I mean look at him, he's smurfed!" screamed Brainy as he knelt down next to the deathly pale Smurf on the floor. The others joined him, but they could not find a pulse and together they cried for their friend.

But they did not have time to grieve for long as the scratching started up again, this time at the door...scratch...scratch...scratch. "I'm going to stay with the Smurflings and Baby in their bedroom. I suggest you come with me," shouted Smurfette. "I'll bring the rest of the pies," said Greedy. Clumsy was too shocked to say anything but covered up his friend on the floor with a blanket. Brainy was in the kitchen getting some more weapons.

They all piled into the bedroom and barricaded the door with whatever they could find. The Smurflings were wide awake and had been crying, only Baby Smurf was still fast asleep. "Come on , we need to move this bunk bed against the door," said Brainy and together he and Greedy pushed the heavy piece of furniture in front of the opening. Clumsy and Smurfette got Baby out of bed and coaxed the Smurflings to come with them to the centre of the room. The only window in the bedroom was barricaded and at least there was no chimney. The Smurfs all huddled on the floor with the youngsters in the middle. All they could hear outside was screaming and shouts for help. They were in darkness as they had left the matches for the candles out in the kitchen. The incessant scratching started up again. This time on the bedroom window shutters, it went right through their souls...scratch...scratch...scratch! Then at the bedroom door another sound, bang..bang...bang! Greedy got up from the floor and tip toed to the door and looked through the keyhole. He could see Hefty standing at the door, he started to try and move the bunk bed to let him in "Quick! It's Hefty, he's not dead. Look he wants to come in!" Brainy got up to have a look and pulled Greedy back onto the floor "Shush! can't you see he's a vampire? I mean did you not see how pale looking he was?" whispered Brainy. Greedy looked shocked that he had almost put everyone in danger.

Smurfette could stand it no longer and did the only thing that would make her feel happy and block out the sound, she started to sing.

"La,la,la,la,la, sing a happy song!'

La,la,la,la,la, Smurf the whole day long!'

All the Smurfs in the huddle joined in and they sang loud and strong and the song itself gave them the strength to deal with the horrors that were closing in on them from all sides. But unknown to them the song was doing much more than raising their spirits. It was repelling the Homunculi, even the vampire Smurfs could not stand their singing and they all started to move away from the house. Even Hefty Smurf was repulsed by the singing and he opened up the front door and ran off into the night together with his new brethren. Dawn was breaking and the vampire Smurfs would have to find shelter from the light. The Homuculi in the meantime were not feeling that well as their master was getting a high temperature. They just about made it into their hollow tree until they had to hibernate. Papa Smurf saw where they went and now that his mind was clear he knew what he must do to save the remaining Smurfs.

To be continued.

Chapter 4: Will Papa be able to save Gargamel's life? What will happen to the vampire Smurfs. Will the nightmare end before the next night comes?


	4. Chapter 4

Vampire Smurfs Chapter 4

'Forgiveness'

Sunlight streamed into the Smurf village bathing everything in it's golden light. Drops of dew glistened in the rays of warmth and one by one the barricades on the Smurf houses were taken down.

Greedy was the first Smurf to take a look outside, he opened the door just a crack and carefully scanned the village he saw no movement and opened the door a little more and listened carefully for any sounds.

He then nearly fainted in shock when Papa Smurf appeared right in front on him. In a panic Greedy let go of the door and scampered back inside the mushroom house and ran into the bedroom slamming the door after him.

He huddled with the other Smurfs and they all tried to be as quiet as they could be but then Baby Smurf decided to have a cry!

"My little Smurfs, it's me Papa! I'm OK, look I'm not a vampire!" shouted Papa Smurf, as he entered the living room. The other Smurfs were just looking at each other to see who was going to reply.

"How do we know that? I mean, you were with the vampires last night, you have to be one of them," stuttered Brainy who was trying to sound brave but failing.

"I'll prove it to you, just unlock the shutters on the bedroom window and you can see me through the glass and then you will know," answered the elderly Smurf making his way back outside. "Ok, but no funny stuff right?" replied Brainy. Smurfette grabbed Brainy's arm and pleaded with him not to do it as it could be a trick but Brainy and then Greedy agreed that they had to give him a chance and he was alone.

Brainy opened the window and removed the wooden peg that held the exterior shutters closed, giving them a push as he did so. He then quickly locked the window again. The shutters were only open a crack and then a blue hand pulled them apart and there stood Papa Smurf smiling at them with sunlight streaming all over him. He looked the same as he always did, mid-blue skin, white beard, blue eyes and.."Papa, show us your teeth" demanded Smurfette. He did as he was told and opened his mouth wide for them to see that he had smurfy teeth and not vampire canines. "Look it is Papa, he's even standing in the sunshine and it's not hurting him in any way" squealed Smurfette in delight.

"There is one more test that I want to try" said Greedy, "Here Papa, have a Smurfberry pie," and Greedy went to lob one at Papa, but he was only kidding, "Here, eat it and prove to us that you are our Papa," he simply said.

"Anything, for my little smurfs," replied Papa and once Greedy had passed it to him through the window, he took a great big bite out of the pie and looked like he was enjoying it immensely. "My smurf! That is delicious Greedy, do you have any more?"

"Of course we do Papa! Come round to the door and we'll let you in" answered Brainy as he ran out of the bedroom and then unlocked the front door.

It was a joyous scene to see a mass of Smurfs all having a group hug. Then the Smurflings and baby Smurf came along to join in and they all ended up falling over into a heap on the floor laughing their heads off. "Oh, it's so good to see you all safe, I see that other Smurfs managed to fight off the Vampires last night, but do you know if anyone was 'taken'" asked Papa with a more serious tone of voice. All the younger Smurfs went quiet and looked at the floor, some with tears in their eyes. Brainy was the one who spoke up "Last night we lost Hefty, he fought bravely and tried to keep us all safe but they got him last night when one came down the chimney, I'm not sure about the Smurfs in the other houses." Papa Smurf went over to Brainy who had started to cry and gave him a hug around the shoulders. "Now, now don't worry I'll try and find a way to fix this mess if I can, I must go out and see the rest of the village and find out what has been happening, then we must go to Gargamel's and find out what he has been up to and put a stop to it once and for all!"

And with that the elderly smurf gave Brainy one last reassuring squeeze and marched out of the house followed by the others.

He did not have to march far as just outside the door a group of Smurfs had already gathered and they all crowded around the village leader eager for news.

"Can everyone smurf up please!" shouted Papa, trying to make himself heard over the din that everysmurf was making. Eventually the cacophony of voices quietened down to a murmur and he could finally start speaking "As you are all aware, we were smurfed last night by creatures of Gargamel's making, they were the same ones that attacked Timber Smurf in the woods yesterday. And now I've just received news that Hefty Smurf was also attacked and became Vampire the same as Timber." He scanned the crowd and heard gasps of shock and saw some Smurfs wiping tears from their eyes. A hand came up in the middle of the crowd, it was Miller Smurf, "Last night Papa we had to fight off a couple of those little vampire creatures and whilst we were busy with them Doctor Smurf bit Vanity turning him into a vampire and then he in turn went off and bit another. It was horrific, they just kept biting anyone they saw. We had to barricade ourselves in to a cupboard to get away from them." screeched Miller Smurf who had not realised that his voice had been getting shriller and shriller with the shock of recounting what had happened. Smurfs next to him gave a group hug and he soon calmed down. Papa did a headcount and then asked each Smurf to call out their name. They soon found out that in the night they had lost, Handy, Vanity, Painter, Farmer, Lazy, Hefty and of course Timber and Doctor.

The crowd dispersed and Papa went back into the Smurfling's house and sat down on one of the chairs and put his head in his hands. Smurfette came up to him and sat down opposite on another chair and gently touched his knee. "Papa, is there anything we can do? How can we help you? " The elderly smurf took his hands away from his face and Smurfette could see that he had been crying, tears were still trickling down his blue cheeks into his thick white beard . "Oh, my dear sweet Smurfette, I'm not really sure if I can do anything to help the Smurfs that have turned vampire as they are already dead and I don't have the power to bring all of them back." Smurfette was puzzled by this, "What do you mean, the power to bring them back?" she asked.

Papa locked eyes with hers and became very serious, "It would mean the giving up of my remaining life force to give life to another but it can only be done once of course and would mean my own demise, there are too many and I cannot make that choice."

He looked back down on the ground and wiped his eyes with the back on his hand.

Smurfette was touched that Papa was even thinking of sacrificing himself for another Smurf and she knelt down next to him and came close to his ear "You are the best Papa in the world and we all know that you would move heaven and earth for us. Even if they are now vampires I'm sure that they will still recognise you and maybe they still retain their original smurfy goodness within them," she said getting up. Papa looked up at her and smiled. Of course, he still had to believe that the little Smurfs were still his and not lost forever to the evil of Gargamel.

"Come lets have something to eat and then I'll get my plan into action. That twisted wizard is going to wish he had never set eyes on us all those years ago!" said the village leader with a look of grim determination.

In the hovel at the edge of the woods things were going from bad to worse for Gargamel. He had only managed to sleep for a couple of hours in the night and the pain in his hand was getting unbearable, his white nightshirt was all damp and clingy. His fever had subsided but his heart was racing and he was getting out of breath with the slightest effort. He felt that he had to move around as he feared that if he remained immobile for too long he may not wake up.

He spent most of the night sitting in his rocking chair as it was the only place he could get comfortable to ease the pain in his hand but still be able to stay alert. Azrael had been following his master around the home and normally Gargamel would shoo him away but he was encouraging him to stay near which was not like him at all. The wizard had inspected the wounds again and saw that they were much worse. He consulted books on infections and concluded that he was in deep trouble now and would probably not last long until either blood poisoning or toxic shock took over.

"It's so unfair Azrael, all those times I though I was going to die from either an accident, drowning or being blown up by a bad spell and it ends up being a simple cat scratch, how ironic!" he said breathlessly. Azrael looked up at the pale looking wizard and meowed in sympathy.

Gargamel got up from the rocking chair and went to the table and poured himself a cup of water from the water jug. He then went back to the chair and sat down heavily, with a shaking hand he took a few sips of water from the cup. He then spoke again, "Well at least I've kept my promise to the Smurfs," he smirked to himself. Azrael looked at him and said "Meerow, meow?" Gargamel looked at him through half open eyes and said "I always promised that I would get them if it was the last thing I ever did. But they always thought it meant capturing them. But in fact what I meant was their total destruction and my Homunculi have started the process, even if my death was not part of the plan at least I'll leave this life knowing that the Smurfs will be extinct once and for all," this seemed to amuse him and he tried to laugh but he was getting too exhausted.

"I'm going back to bed Azrael. I just can't get comfortable anywhere, feels like I've been running for hours. If I am to pop my clogs I'd rather be found in bed and not slumped on the floor like a pile of rags." I know those vile little Smurfs will be coming for me soon and I still want to keep some dignity.

He slowly got up from the chair, the effort making him grimace and clutch at his chest where he could feel the quartz rod. He shuffled over to his cot bed and got in under the covers, his fever was starting up again and this time it felt much worse. His faithful cat lay next to him on the bed and the wizard tickled his best friend under the chin for a couple of minutes before closing his eyes and lapsing into unconsciousness.

The remaining Smurfs in the village had been ravenous and they all ate a good breakfast. Papa Smurf and Brainy then got a couple of search parties together and they systematically went from houses to house searching for the vampire Smurfs. They hoped that being so close to home that they may have naturally gone back to their own beds to escape the daylight and this hunch paid off as they found each and every vampire fast asleep in their own houses, apart from Timber Smurf whom they found in one of Farmer's barns.

In the daytime, the vampire Smurfs looked normal, but it did not seem to be the right description for what they had before them. They were much paler than the normal Smurfs all of them were covered in each other's blood and some were showing their vampire teeth, which made some Smurfs shudder with fear. Thankfully they were easily 'captured' as they seemed to be in a coma of some sort. Papa said that they should be tied up and placed in one the grain stores where they would find it difficult to escape from once night fell.

Guards were to stand outside, their weapons would be a bucket of Smurfberries and a slingshot. If that didn't work they had the power of singing to repel the vampires and they decided that Harmony Smurf would be more powerful as he had the extra power of awful singing!

Next, they had to capture the Homunculi, Papa and Greedy went into the hollow tree very carefully and could see them high up within the tree trunk. They both went back to the village and with the help of the other Smurfs built some ladders and a cage that could be carried between two poles. The plan was to capture all four Homunculi and bring them back to Gargamel. They were his creation and his problem to deal with. Papa was determined to make the wizard pay this time. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to do real harm to that Human., the gloves were off and he was ready to do anything to save his people.

Getting hold of the Homunculi was a mammoth task. First they had to set up the ladders inside the tree trunk and then use ropes and fastenings to climb up to where they were hibernating. Close up the little vampires looked like little leather bags as their wings were held tightly around themselves and they were holding onto the bark with vicious looking backward facing claws.

Papa did not want any more of his Smurfs to be hurt so he was the one at the top of the hollow tree dislodging the claws of the Homunculi with gloved hands whilst he hung in mid-air using a harness. He carefully placed each one in a strong burlap bag tied to a rope and lowered them down to the waiting Smurfs below.

He then abseiled down to the bottom of the tree to the cheers of his fellow Smurfs. Once out of the harness Papa opened the bag and tipped the Homunculi into the cage. He then placed a thick dark cloth over the whole thing to protect them from the daylight. Even if they were evil creatures he did not want them to suffer from burning.

Papa now satisfied that he had done all he could to secure the village then turned to his loyal family and announced "Smurfs, we must form an army against Gargamel. I want you to collect as many weapons as you can, pitchforks, knives, slingshots and make some javelins. We are going to war!" The other Smurfs looked at him with open mouths and then one by one they put their fists in the air and repeated the word; War!. Soon the whole village of Smurfs were all fired up for a battle and they spent the rest of the morning preparing weapons and making vicious looking javelins as tall as themselves out of wood and Blacksmith Smurf sharpened some kitchen knives for the village. There was not enough time to make any swords as the Smurfs had never needed them before.

In the meantime, Papa and Brainy Smurf were in the laboratory making some potions. "I want Gargamel to tell us how he made those creatures and how we can reverse the process. He will resist of course he always does, so this is why I'm making this potion," said the village leader. "What is it?" asked Brainy looking at the strange pink liquid bubbling away in the cauldron. "We've used it before on Gargamel, it's 'Angelic Serum' but I've added an extra ingredient which will make it impossible for him to lie a sort of 'Truth Serum' and together they will be our best weapon," replied the elderly Smurf. Brainy looked around the laboratory and then back to the potion. "How are you going to get him to take it though?" asked the myopic Smurf. "Ah, that's the clever part, we will use this," replied Papa, he walked over to a cupboard, opened it and took out a long object made of metal and wood. "Papa, is that what I think it is. I thought you always said that they were only used by evil humans and were very dangerous," gasped the shocked younger Smurf. "Depends what you fire out of it. This riffle will just deliver the potion as it needs some force to push the hypodermic needle into a Human's skin. It is a non-deadly weapon and the best thing is that several hypodermics can be loaded at one time, so if we miss we have another go," replied Papa and he started to fill four ampoules with the potion and carefully place a very sharp two inch needle at the end of each one before loading them into the riffle.

"What about Azrael how are we going to deal with him?" queried Brainy who was now getting exited about this adventure but at the same time worried about all the things that could go wrong. "I've already thought of that and have some tranquilliser darts that can be fired with slingshots, that cat will be the least of our problems, " said Papa and he gathered up the weapons and headed outside with them. Brainy followed taking a long look at the laboratory wondering If he would ever come back to it again.

It was early afternoon when the Smurf army started marching towards the hovel. Some Smurfs remained behind to care for Baby Smurf and the Smurflings and to guard the vampire Smurfs. But however much they tried to stop her, Smurfette was determined to join in with the fight so she came along as well. If her hair had been red she would have looked like a mini Bodacia from ancient times.

It only took them half an hour or so to reach the home of their enemy. Papa Smurf sent two scouts ahead to check out the lay of the land and to find out where Gargamel and Azrael were. A few minutes later the scouts reported back and said that both were fast asleep in bed.

"Still in bed? But wait, he had hurt his hand a few days ago, maybe he really is sick?" muttered Papa to himself . If he was that ill then it would not be Smurfy to go in all ready for war when your enemy is not even well enough to fight you. Papa let out a growl of frustration this changed everything, but he still had the 'Angelic Serum', even if Gargamel was unwell he may still resist his questioning. Papa had to find out what spell the evil wizard had used and he would have to find out before tonight. They still had at least seven hours or so before sunset.

"Come my little Smurfs, onwards to Gargamel's!" shouted Papa and he started to run over the little bridge spanning the muck pond and up the rise to the hovel's front door, closely followed by around thirty Smurfs. They all stopped outside and two smurfs jumped up to the window ledge armed with slingshots and the tranquilliser darts for the cat.

Azrael was blissfully unaware of what was going to happen to him, he was sleeping on top of Gargamel's belly and as the wizard still had a high fever, he was keeping toasty warm just where he was. The feline woke with a start when he felt something hit his back almost like a bee sting. He arched his back to try and lick the insect off himself and was surprised to see a small metal spike sticking out of his fur. He tried to get up and pull it out but then wondered why his legs were not obeying him.

Before he blacked out he saw at least ten Smurfs or more advancing towards him on the bed and he did not have time to even growl at them.

The Smurfs on the bed gently lifted up the unconscious cat and slid him onto the floor before dragging him into one of Gargamel's many Smurf cages that he kept lying around the hovel floor. "There that should keep him out of harms way" said Greedy Smurf as he was locking the front of the cage. Greedy then rejoined the others on the bed and they all stopped to look at the unconscious form of their enemy.

"Shouldn't we tie him down?" asked Brainy Smurf, "Only if he gets violent or tries to get out of bed," replied Papa Smurf, but first I must take a closer look at the wound on his arm as those dressing are turning a strange colour." said the elderly Smurf.

One of the other Smurfs gave Papa a large knife and he went up to the prone wizard and started to cut off the bandages on the Human's left hand. It was a sticky purple mess and all the Smurfs hid their eyes and held their noses as the smell was just stomach churning. "Oh my Smurf!" was all that Papa could shout out before running back down the bed to join the others.

"What's he done to himself?" asked a shocked Smurfette, sounding all nasal as she was holding her nose "It looks and certainly smells like gangrene, he is going to lose that hand if we don't do something soon but looking at his condition right now I'd say he does not have much time left as he seems to have all the symptoms of blood poisoning," said Papa suddenly loosing his will to fight. What could he do? He could use magic and herbs to treat the infection but he had a feeling it was already too late.

He would have to talk to Gargamel right now and get the information he needed.

"I'm going to try and wake him up, we need to know what he did and how to stop it. Can someone bring me my riffle and please everyone search around the hovel, there must be a spell book around here all about making vampires.

He watched all the little Smurfs jump off the bed and spread around the hovel, looking in the bookshelves on the table some went down into the basement. The cage of Homunculi had been left in the middle of the room still covered with the cloth.

It was just him and Gargamel now. Papa walked up the wizard's belly then chest made a fist and punched him hard on the chin. This only made Gargamel's eyes flutter open for a second or two and if he had been able to keep them open and focused he would have seen the strange sight of Papa Smurf dancing on his chest holding his hand and wincing in pain. "Aarghh! that hurt! But I've wanted to do that for ages!" grimaced Papa Smurf as he waited for the pain in his knuckles to subside.

This was not going to work, the elderly Smurf got off the bed and went to look at the evil wizard's potion shelf. After a bit of searching he found what he was looking for. He climbed back onto the bed and untied the phial of smelling salts from his back, he unstoppered it and held the phial under the wizard's large nose. It only took a few seconds to take effect and Gargamel let out a gasp and a cough which made Papa fall off the wizard's chest.

"What, what happened, Azrael where are you?" muttered the wizard who was slowly coming round. He tried to sit up but a wave of dizziness and nausea overcame him and he decided to stay still. He was just closing his eyes again when out of the corner of his eye he saw a blurry blue shape with red blotches. He tried to focus his eyes on the shape that was climbing up his chest and soon enough he saw who it was.

"Papa! so you came, don't think you'll get any information from me, your people are doomed and you know it!" he said with all the venom he could muster. The effort of just saying those few words made him breathless again and he had to close his eyes and summon up some more energy. He so wanted to grab Papa Smurf but his arms felt as if they were made of lead and he bit his lip in frustration making it bleed.

"You are a mess aren't you Gargamel? We both know that you won't see the light of another day, so make it easier on yourself and tell me what you did to make those vampire creatures. You have already killed some of my Smurfs and it seems fitting that your evil has finally backfired on you. You just couldn't leave us alone, always had to be capturing us, trying to get our essence, terrorising us. Do you know that we used to wish that you would leave this forest, that you'd have a run in with Big Mouth and that he would accidentally snap your neck in one of his rages. All the times that we helped you we should have known that you would go back to your old ways and come after us once again. What is it all about? Gold, our happy family, our way of life, you are just a big bully? What makes you hate us so much?" screamed a purple in the face Papa inches away from Gargamel's nose.

The wizard kept his eyes shut and did not even bother to reply a trickle of blood from his bleeding lip dripped onto his chin and this made Papa decide that he had no option but to use his riffle.

He brought it up to his shoulder took a few steps back then took aim at Gargamel's right shoulder and fired.

The shock of the needle going in made the Human almost sit up and the Smurf fell off again. Gargamel's eyes shot open and he made a grab for the ampoule that had by now injected it's contents into him. He pulled it out and held it in front of him and demanded "What have you done? What is this?" before collapsing back onto the bed, where he just lay there panting with the sudden exertion and his eyes staring at the ceiling.

Papa once again walked up to Gargamel's chest and spoke softly this time "Gargamel, we need to know what spell you used to make those vampire creatures. They have been hurting my people and it's made us very sad," he waited for the full effect of the drug to take effect. Gargamel was trying to fight the effects of the serum but he soon felt himself relaxing more and more until he could resist it no more and he blurted out the whole truth and nothing but the truth of what he had done, then he felt a sudden rush of emotions and started to cry like a baby, tears flowing freely down his podgy cheeks. Papa could not help but feel a little bit of compassion for his enemy and he got a piece of cloth and wiped the wizard's tears away.

Gargamel stopped crying and looking at the elderly Smurf with eyes full of sadness and regret "When I die please tell my mum to come and look after Azrael, I know she hates him, but I want her to look after him, promise me you'll do this?" "Yes, Gargamel I'll tell her it was your last wish," replied Papa trying not to get upset himself.

This seemed to satisfy the Human and he closed his eyes again. Papa went over to the wizard's left hand and took off the bandages to let some air get to the putrid flesh. It almost seemed pointless to try and dress it again. Gargamel's breathing was slowing down and they both knew that his time was coming up fast.

Brainy Smurf came up onto the bed and asked Papa about Gargamel. "He is dying that's for sure, never thought I'd see the day or that we'd be present at his death," sighed the village leader. "Come he's given me all the information we needed, the book is on the third shelf and it's called 'The Alchemist and the legend of the Homunculi', he did not get as far as telling me how to stop them so I must go and read it quickly now," said Papa, jumping off the bed and running over to the bookshelves where a couple of Smurfs were already getting the book down for him.

Papa Smurf opened the book on the floor and read the last chapter. He read and re-read the same passage over and over again. He then spoke it out loud to himself "The Homunculi are controlled by a Quartz rod worn next to the skin of the father, if the father has a temperature then the Homunculi will hibernate. If the father dies or the Quartz rod is removed the Homunculi will within half and hour duplicate in number and will increase in size at the same time. They will be unstoppable as only the father has the power to destroy them," Papa slowly got up from the floor and walked over to the cage holding the Homunculi, he took the cover off and saw that they were still hibernating. As long as they were still sleeping he knew that Gargamel was still alive, but for how long?

He now knew why Gargamel was not so bothered about dying, it was part of his plan even if he was not conscious of it. He tried to remember when he was being controlled by the Homunculi, the way Gargamel had 'spoken' to him in his mind. The Homunculi were part of the wizard and they wanted life as much as Gargamel had always wanted power and what better way than destroying the father to make yourself free and fulfil the father's deepest and most evil wishes?

At that moment, all time stood still for Papa. He looked at his fellow Smurfs standing around him, he looked at the book of Dark Magic and then to his fallen foe and he knew exactly what he must do. When the time came he would have to do it quickly and make sure that no-one interfered as otherwise the whole world would be doomed not just the Smurfs.

Smurfette came and sat down next to Papa, she had a feeling that he was going to do what he had spoken of earlier in the day. "Papa, please reconsider, you don't have to do this, we don't want to lose you," she pleased with him but kept her voice down so the others would not hear. Papa took her hands in his and smiled at her "Smurfette, you and Brainy will make great village leaders, once I am gone they will need someone to look after them and I can think of no-one better than the two of you. Please explain this to Brainy once the deed is done as he is such a blabber mouth he will tell everyone at the wrong time, promise me this, you will not stop me. Promise me!" Smurfette looked at Papa with tears in her eyes and nodded saying "Yes Papa, there is no other way and I understand it now."

Their tender moment was interrupted by Brainy Smurf shouting and pointing at the cage of Homunculi. "Look everysmurf, the creatures are waking up!" Papa could see the wings of the little vampires opening and the familiar red eyes starting to glow. It was time for him to do his duty.

He jumped up on the bed and took hold of the rifle which still lay next to Gargamel, he opened up the cartridge chamber and took out one of the ampoules and then threw down the rifle onto the bed. Walking across Gargamel's body he could see that the evil wizard was indeed now dead.

He was not breathing and Papa could not feel a heartbeat through the soles of his shoes. He stopped directly over Gargamel's silent heart, he took hold of the ampoule with it's two inch needle and with all his might and weight he plunged it straight into the Human's chest. He then held onto the ampoule and let himself become one with the liquid inside, turning it from pink to blue, this was his life force being transferred into a liquid and then passing into the bodily tissues of the wizard. The whole process from beginning to end only took two minutes but to Papa it was a lifetime as he was giving up his remaining life force to save Gargamel and ultimately the future of the world. The blue glow in the liquid seeped out and Papa collapsed onto Gargamel's chest. Smurfette was the first to get onto the bed, quickly followed by most of the other Smurfs. "Papa, oh dear Papa please open your eyes," said Smurfette kneeling next to the fallen elderly Smurf and cradling his head in her lap. "Please wake up," she cried. Papa was still alive, just and opened his eyes to see lots of concerned faces staring at him. "Did it work? Is Gargamel alive?" he asked. "No, Papa, maybe it doesn't work on Humans," she sobbed, realising that maybe he had sacrificed his life for nothing.

Then all of a sudden the Smurfs standing on the wizards chest could feel movement, very faint at first but a definite 'thump, thump of a heartbeat and then the chest began to rise and fall. "Papa, you did it, he's alive!" shouted Smurfette and she gave him a big hug. The other Smurfs started to get off Gargamel's body as they could feel that he was soon going to wake up as the heartbeat was getting stronger and the breathing rate was more regular. They all retreated to the safety of the window ledge taking Papa Smurf with them in a fireman's lift.

The wizard slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his chest as it hurt and then his hand bumped into the ampoule that was still sticking in him and he pulled it out quickly and threw it on the floor. He then looked at his injured hand as it was not hurting and was amazed to see that it was healed. No sign of infection not even any scratches.

He rubbed his eyes and looked again, shook his head and sat up in his bed.

That's when he spotted the thirty odd Smurfs looking at him from the window ledge. "What are you doing here, what have you been doing to me? Where is Papa I need to speak to him," he said in his usual confrontational style. The Smurfs parted and then Gargamel could see the elderly Smurf lying on his back on the window ledge being cradled by Smurfette. "What is the meaning of this, what's happened to him?" he demanded. "Gargamel, for once just listen to what I have to say," whispered Papa "I've given up my life force to bring you back to life as you were dead ten minutes ago," Gargamel looked shocked at this news, "Well I did feel very unwell and my hand was badly infected, but look at it now, nothing wrong with it! This must be a dream no other explanation!" replied the incredulous wizard.

" It's not a dream now you must help us in return, the Homunculi must be destroyed for good, next time you die it will be for good as no other Smurf but I have the power to give up their life force and if the Homunculi become stronger because of your death then the whole world would be doomed." croaked Papa Smurf. "Well you look on your last legs, who is going to save you?" spat the wizard, then he started to get out of bed and walked right up to the Smurfs.

"I think you know what the answer is don't you Papa? I don't have the power to give your life back but there may be an alternative." said the wizard with a glint in his eye.

"No Papa, don't even think of it!" shouted Brainy rushing up to get between Gargamel and Papa. "You are saying that he should become one of the undead aren't you?" said Brainy fixing eyes with Gargamel. "I really don't think it's your decision now is it four eyes?" smirked the Human.

Papa looked at his loyal Smurfs and spoke as loud as he could "Smurfs, I am willing to become a vampire as I am needed by the other Smurfs who are now vampires. We will make our own village deeper in the woods and we will not bother you in anyway. Once the Homunculi have been destroyed then we will just live off the blood of woodland creatures without having to kill them. Your new leaders will be Smurfette and Brainy and you will respect them at all times, is that understood?" The Smurfs all looked at each other and one by one they nodded their agreement.

Without a word, Gargamel lifted up Papa and placed him gently in his hand and brought him over to the cage of Homunculi. They were all awake now and eager to feed. Papa could feel himself being placed next to the cage and Gargamel said "Only you can choose when you will get bitten, all you need to do is place your hand or even foot in the cage and they will bring you new life." The wizard then got up from the floor and went to his rocking chair by the fire and poured himself a cup of water.

A few minutes passed and Papa could feel that everyone was watching him, his beloved Smurfs his greatest enemy and then he saw them, the red eyes calling him, almost pleading with him to become one of them. He could resist no more and crawled the last few inches closer to the cage and offered up his hand to the Homunculi.

The Smurfs that had been watching hid their eyes once the little vampires had bitten into Papa and even Gargamel had to pretend that he was not a little repulsed by it.

Papa now lay on the ground with a bloody arm and was slowly turning very pale, he was not breathing but everysmurf knew that soon he will awaken and be different from them.

They stayed to make sure that Gargamel fulfilled his promise to Papa. He brewed up a counter potion and tipped the Homunculi into the liquid and watched them melt into nothing. The liquid was then tipped out onto the ground outside to make sure that the wizard did not try to make it again. The book was thrown onto the fire so that the dark magic secrets of the Homunculi could never be repeated again. They did not know that Gargamel was doing this of his own free will he could have turned on them at anytime, but for now he was satisfied with having defeated Papa and causing chaos in the Smurf world.

The Smurfs left Gargamel to comfort his cat who was only just starting to come round from his ordeal and they took Papa home to join the other vampire Smurfs in the grain store. They would remain there that night and the next morning they would be moved deep into the woods far from the village, so that they could start their new life as vampires.

THE END


End file.
